A Campaign to Make Eugene and Springfield
Cities of Kindness
Our Purpose
The purpose of this campaign is for all citizens of the Springfield-Eugene area to benefit from greater kindness — at home, at work and as part of our community. We are trying to create a culture of kindness by giving greater visibility to the many acts of kindness that are already taking place in Eugene-Springfield, encouraging more acts of kindness (especially people volunteering for non-profits for the first time), engaging in more conversations about kindness, listening to what kindness means to all segments of our communities, recording acts of kindness, and celebrating our kindness accomplishments. We are working with schools, faith-based organizations, businesses, neighborhood associations, non-profits, and governmental agencies to share and increase their kindness stories and accomplishment. Spreading Kindness encourages acts of kindness throughout all of these aspects of our community, as well as in our personal lives.
Who We Are
Steering Committee and their work groups:
Bruce Abel — Non-profits and Underrepresented Groups
Deb Jones — Neighborhood Associations and Crossing the Political Divide
Doug Carnine — Coordinator
Judy Newman – Early Childhood Education
LeeAnn Sheehan — Website
Linda Carnine — Underrepresented Groups and Service Clubs
Maggie Donahue —Schools
Matt Sprick — Businesses
Ryan Radloff – Businesses
Stan Paine — Springfield Schools and Organizations
Steve Christiansen — Communication Group
Tom Maloney — 4J and Bethel Schools
Advisors: Bhavia Wagner, Dan Close, Dave Funk, Hugh Prichard, Jenny Ulum, Marshall Peter, Tom English.
Campaign Facilitator: Trisha Bates-Wickman
To ask questions and receive updates about the campaign, email info@spreadingkindnesscampaign.org. The campaign does not endorse political candidates.
Our Supporters
Spreading Kindness Campaign has support for making Eugene and Springfield Cities of Kindness from many local individuals and organizations. View the list here.
The Eugene-Springfield Cities of Kindness Month
In November of 2019, the Spreading Kindness Campaign held an event at the Shedd Institute in Eugene to celebrate over one million acts of local kindness. Keynote speakers were Tom Tait, Cities of Kindness National Leader and Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis. Breakout sessions at the event included Kindness in our Personal Lives, Kindness in Schools, Kindness in the Workplace as well as sessions on the homeless and how faith groups serve our community.
Benefits of Increasing Kindness
Anaheim, California is a City of Kindness that has reported over one million acts of kindness in eight years. Anaheim has benefited from this focus with reductions in homelessness, crime, school bullying/violence, and gang membership, increased kindness initiatives by businesses, improved community policing including officers referring drug users to treatment rather than arresting them, and more.
Getting Started
In May 2018, 150 people gathered in Eugene to kick off the Spreading Kindness Campaign by discussing the transformational power of kindness and various ways of generating more kindness. One of the highlights of that event was a reading of the Peace Pledge that was written by students in Springfield, Oregon following a tragic school shooting. View a local news clip about the workshop here, or watch the full workshop here.
Our Spreading Kindness Campaign is currently focusing on helping Eugene and Springfield become “Cities of Kindness.” We are meeting with schools, city officials, business groups, faith based organizations, the county, non-profits, and under represented groups to discuss how we can increase kindness.
We also try to help people expand their own capacity for being kind with resources listed under “Personal Kindness.”
We invite you to help us spread kindness by exploring some of the options on this website under “Spread Kindness.” You could volunteer for one of the groups helping the homeless, put up a kindness yard sign, host a dinner party with a focused discussion on kindness, or share an inspiring act of kindness.
Our goal is to increase kindness in our community, one small act at a time.
